iMac 2012

Hi I have acquired an iMac 2012 and I would like to use it for watching videos and managing my itunes library etc. Thing is, it has linux mint installed on it. There is no recovery drive/partition either. I have tried holding cmd+option but it just loads to linux mint each time. I do have an el capitan USB drive but I don't know how to use it from within linux.


Any help gratefully received!

Posted on Jul 11, 2023 2:01 PM

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8 replies

Jul 12, 2023 4:09 AM in response to sinisterambo

Have you bothered to read the full link provided by ku4hx?


How to use it is right there:

Use the bootable installer

Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

Apple silicon

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing. A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the internet, but it does require an internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.
  2. Turn on the Mac and continue to hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which shows your bootable volumes.
  3. Select the volume containing the bootable installer, then click Continue.
  4. When the macOS installer opens, follow the onscreen installation instructions.


Intel processor

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing. A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the internet, but it does require an internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.
  2. Turn on your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Option (Alt) key.
  3. Release the Option key when you see a dark screen showing your bootable volumes.
  4. Select the volume containing the bootable installer. Then click the onscreen arrow or press Return. 
  5. If you can't start up from the bootable installer, make sure that Startup Security Utility is set to allow booting from external or removable media.
  6. Choose your language, if prompted.
  7. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.



Jul 11, 2023 8:22 PM in response to sinisterambo

sinisterambo wrote:

Hi I have acquired an iMac 2012 and I would like to use it for watching videos and managing my itunes library etc. Thing is, it has linux mint installed on it. There is no recovery drive/partition either. I have tried holding cmd+option but it just loads to linux mint each time.


Have you tried starting up while holding just the Option key alone?


Mac startup key combinations - Apple Support


iMac 2012

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